Adjust for your crowd
Enter how many of your guests are kids; each counts as half an adult.
Ice for other crowd sizes
tap a row for its own list ↓| Guests | Ice to buy | 20-lb bags |
|---|---|---|
| 10 people | 11 lb | 1 |
| 20 people | 22 lb | 2 |
| 25 people | 28 lb | 2 |
| 30 people | 33 lb | 2 |
| 40 people | 44 lb | 3 |
| 50 people | 55 lb | 3 |
| 75 people · you're here | 83 lb | 5 |
| 100 people | 110 lb | 6 |
| 150 people | 165 lb | 9 |
| 200 people | 220 lb | 11 |
5 20-lb bags for 75 people. Buy it the day of the party, and keep the bags in a cooler until you need them.
How many people do 3 bags of ice cover?
Covers about 60 people indoors, or 30 outdoors in warm weather.
Everything else for 75 people
How we got this number
- 175 guests × 1 lb (indoors) = 75 lb
- 2× 1.10 cushion = 82.5 lb
- 3÷ 20-lb bags = 4.13 → 5 bags (20 lb)
we round up to whole bags. Ice is cheap; running out isn't.
Sources for this rule: Reddy Ice FAQ; Reddy Ice, How Much Ice You Need for a Party; Reddy Ice calculator; Reddy Ice; Tasting Table, How Much Ice You Need for a Party; WebstaurantStore; app.warehouserunner.com.
Ice questions
How much ice for 75 people?
Buy 83 lb of ice: 5 bags (20 lb). That's 1 lb per guest indoors, plus a 10% cushion, in 20-lb bags.
What if 15 of the 75 guests are kids?
Kids count as half an adult, so it's 67.5 adult portions: buy 75 lb of ice: 4 bags (20 lb).
How many people do 3 bags of ice cover?
Covers about 60 people indoors, or 30 outdoors in warm weather.
Different headcount? The ice calculator works for any number of guests, and the menu planner builds one shopping list for the whole party.